Monday, August 15, 2011

FHQ has been asked a few times -- and this is a question that has been making its way around the outer reaches of the internet as well -- to comment on the situation with the New Jersey presidential primary. Implicit in some of these questions is the notion that the bill won't be signed; keeping the Garden state primary in February and thus adding another layer to the current calendar chaos.

Well, let FHQ be the first to dispel that specific rumor. New Jersey's primary will only remain in February if Governor Chris Christie decides to veto A 3777, the bill that eliminated the separate presidential primary created in 2005. That legislation passed the New Jersey legislature on June 29, but has languished, seemingly in limbo in the time since.

What does that mean? It doesn't mean all that much on its face. First of all, Governor Christie has yet to act on the bill -- whether to sign it or veto it. But that raises the second more interesting/important point: Governor Christie has yet to act on the bill. Notice FHQ said that the only way the primary will stay in February is if Christie vetoes the primary bill. But the bill can still become law without the governor's signature. It can also be vetoed without gubernatorial action.

Let's look at the first scenario: A bill that has passed the New Jersey legislature can become law without the governor's signature if the period for consideration -- 45 days -- has passed.1 Forty-five days have passed since A 3777 successfully cleared both chambers of the legislature on June 29. In fact, 46 days have now passed (not counting today). Well, that's pretty cut and dry, right? Forty-five days have passed and the bill is law.

That is true except for a couple of matters. First of all, the 45 day countdown begins once the bill is presented to the governor. There is no formal process for -- at least no formal way of cataloging -- the transmission of legislation to the New Jersey governor like there is in other states (see the New York presidential primary bill). Take, for example, the FY2012 budget bill in New Jersey: S 4000. It passed on the same day as the presidential primary bill and was signed the next day without mention of transmission to the governor. In other words, we don't know when the 45 day clock began on A 3777. There is also the fact that the legislature is currently in recess. As such, Governor Christie has until the day the legislature reconvenes to consider the legislation and sign it if he is going to. The state Senate is scheduled to be back for one day on August 25, but FHQ is not clear on whether that will technically be enough -- with nothing simultaneously on the Assembly agenda -- to trigger an end to the period of gubernatorial consideration.

While 45 days have come and gone since the primary legislation passed, Governor Christie will technically have until the day the legislature reconvenes to sign it or not. That point will not occur until August 25 at the earliest.

And the veto? I've partially shot this scenario down already. A gubernatorial pocket veto of a bill is contingent upon a bill having passed the legislature within the final ten days of a two year legislative session. 2011 marks the end of a two year legislative session and while it may look as if the legislature -- currently in recess -- is adjourned, it is not.

With or without Governor Christie's signature, the expectation at FHQ is that the bill will become law -- especially considering there is no money allocated for a separate presidential primary election in the budget -- and the primary will move to June 5.